Agenda

(*Agenda is subject to revision)

Tuesday, December 2

Registration begins at 12:30 pm

  • Music by Donna and Bob Wren

Symposium begins at 1:00 pm

Welcome and Opening Keynote address

  • Paul Muller, Full Belly Farms

Plenary Panel: Creating community-food connections

  • Trinity Heritage Orchard Project, Trinity County
  • Sustainable Community Food Systems in Marin County
  • Seasonal Availability Calendar for Placer County

Break

  • Water, coffee, tea, local fruit and snacks available

Plenary Panel: Opening new markets for producers and consumers

  • Evaluating Farmers Market Opportunities for Southeast Asian Growers in Sacramento County
  • Small Farms Marketing Assistance Project
  • Direct Market Potential of Five Heirloom Dry Bean Varieties

Concurrent Workshops/ Discussions

  • Direct markets in ethnic and/or low-income communities
  • Rural communities and local food systems
  • Farm-to-school programs as a strategy to build local food systems

Concluding reflections on first day

Tuesday evening

Local foods reception at Rominger West Winery, in conjunction with Slow Food Yolo

  • Catered by Pru Mendez, Tucos; appetizers featuring Yolo County foods in season, wine by Rominger West
  • Mark West will give a brief description of winery and connection to Yolo County’s local food system
  • Wine tasting will be available for those interested

Dinner in Davis

Wednesday, December 3

Registration begins at 8:30 am. Continental breakfast with local foods will be available.

  • Music by Donna and Bob Wren

Symposium begins at 9:00 am

Welcome and Keynote address

  • Michael Dimock, President of Roots of Change

Plenary Panel: Economic Challenges and Opportunities of Local Food Systems

  • Needs assessment for small-scale livestock harvesting and processing facilities in northern California
  • PlacerGROWN Collaborative Community Supported Agriculture
  • Is Organic Viable?

Break

  • Coffee, tea, water available

Concurrent workshops/ Discussions

  • Place-based labels and branding
  • Challenges of building local food system infrastructure
  • Local food and export marketing

Lunch: Seasonal Local Luncheon catered by Sodexo-buffet

  • Produce from Student Farm and other local producers
  • Zero waste event - bring your own cup or mug!
  • Local Food Systems posters available for viewing
  • Showing of Marin County documentary “Hidden Bounty of Marin: Farm Families in Transition”

Introduction to Afternoon Sessions

  • Gail Feenstra

Plenary Panel: Local Food Systems and Community Education and Promotional Tools

  • Solano County’s Agricultural Sustainability at the Crossroads
  • Farms of Tuolumne County
  • Northwest California Web-based Marketing

Concluding Discussion: Where do we go from here?

  • Identify central unifying themes from last 2 days
  • How do we move forward collaboratively?

Symposium concludes at 4pm